


Cirque de Lumières

by orphan_account



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 06:40:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20385304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: hi this isnt finished this i just for friends to read lol





	Cirque de Lumières

**Author's Note:**

> hi this isnt finished this i just for friends to read lol

A camcorder sits perched on top of a make-shift tripod of all hardback books stacked upon one another. Chaeyoung glances to her notes, summarised dot points of her script and licks her lips, unsure of how to start.

She clicks record and a red light beams toward the top of the video camera, signalling that it’s begun recording. Chaeyoung opens her mouth to begin to speak but no words make it out and she runs a hand through her hair, sighing.

She takes a few deep breathes to focus herself before reaching for the camera again, this time mind clear and voice articulate.

_“The story starts after my high school graduation, class of ‘94, when i was left wondering what to do with my life now that school was over. After all of those years i knew nothing could ever force me back into education, more tiring hours of constant information thrown at me was not my forte._

_It was by chance that i stumbled upon the opportunity that would be significant beyond my ability to comprehend.” _

“Alright, alright,”

Chaeyoung holds her breath, body tense and eyes expectantly watching her father exhale. He slips his glasses off, rubbing at his eyes and placing the frames onto the wooden dining table beside a flyer reading ‘performers wanted’ in bold.

“‘Alright,’ as in ... ?” Chaeyoung questions, butterflies fluttering in her stomach, excitement bubbling in her core.

“Alright; you can join that academy-“ at that Chaeyoung jumps to her feet, a loud shriek leaving her lips that smile from ear to ear across her face. Her father gives her a look, one that says to calm herself, to which she listens.

He waits for her to steady before continuing, “On one condition,” and she’s watching intently, eye brows slightly furrowed and expression a suppressed grin.

“I give you a year, Chae, a year to make something of yourself. It’sa difficult industry to get into, let alone succeed in - and i don’t want you wasting your whole life trying.”

His words slightly sting, but Chaeyoung recognises the bittersweet pain of the truth. The acrobatics industry was infamous for being difficult, it was in the nature of the art, but this passion - this determination - was burning like wildfire within her and she wouldn’t let this opportunity go.

Acrobatics had been her childhood dream. From the gymnastics classes as a kid, combined with ballet, to the contemporary dance as a teenager. As the years passed, admittedly her love for the act had simmered down, but since finishing schools she’s been desperate to find a place for herself - and maybe this was it.

“Okay, appa,” she smiles, determined, “deal; give me a year.” She extends her hand with a playful smirk, to which her father chuckles but extends his own hand, grasping hers and shaking.

She hopes he was happier about this than he appeared. She had always wanted to make her parents proud, and if she could do that whilst also living her childhood dreams, nothing could be better.

*

_“I remember that morning more than any other. I could’ve sworn i felt the anticipation in my bones.”_

The alarm on her bedside table vibrates softly as it plays a soft chime at 7am. Light filters into the room through the window, in patterns due to the blinds. Chaeyoung extends her arm to silence the alarm, having already been awake.

Falling asleep that night proved to be a challenge, excitement already bubbling in her core and it was evident in the restlessness of her mind and the agitation of her limbs. She lay awake, turning from side to side atop her mattress, formerly soft blankets being anything but.

She throws her comforter off, suddenly feeling too hot but immediately grabs for it seconds later when the cool air hits her clammy skin.

Her arms moved around her body, from places around her face to by her sides. She huffed and huffed all night, annoyed at her inability to sleep.

She feels thankful for the morning sun, - and the time finally passing -rising immediately at the sound of the alarm. The sun peaks at the horizon, skies a gradient of yellow, orange and blue hues, filtered by the soft pale blinds that diffuse the light into a subtle glow.

The branches of nearby trees have visibly grown, leaves evergreen and flowers beginning to blossom. The leaves shake slightly in the morning breeze, soft rustling noises barely audible from Chaeyoung’s bedroom window.

She rises from her bed, morning air cool against her skin and goosebumps form as she beelines for the bathroom. Her brown locks are messy from tossing and turning all night and she runs a hand through to untangle the knots slightly, pulling her hair to a side.

She washes her face with lukewarm water and it feels refreshing to wash away the night before, stress trickling away with the water down the sink.

Her salmon pink body suit feels lack-luster when she slips it on, twisting in the mirror to observe her angles. She huffs and slips a windbreaker jacket on, sleek red material a contrast to the soft colour palette of her milky skin and cocoa hair.

_“That felt like the longest car ride ever, to me it felt like days even though i checked my watch every few minutes._

_The facility itself was quite large, tall ceilings and large open spaces. Younger kids had practice in the far corner and it was endearing to see them put their everything into every little move they did._

_Thinking back to that day is a blur, i have never had more adrenaline in my veins that in those few hours. I remember pulling myself up and over a bar, only to spin around it and drop back to my feet. I remember hearing applause from other performers and seeing a suppressed grin on the faces of the coaches._

_A petite woman of a rigid build. Her dark brown hair came together in a bun on the back of her head and her thin rectangular specs sat at the edge of her pointed nose._

_She was a Frenchwoman, retired, used to be a famous trapeze performer - in France, that is._

_You see, she now owned her very own cirque within a show-ground in Paris. At the time, i knew little about the establishment, but from the way she spoke about it; it sounded marvelous._

_Being from a small town in the Northern part of the UK, few things failed to amaze me._

_But my journey really started the next week, when the low rumble of a motorbike had stopped by my mailbox - the postman had left an envelope.”_

Chaeyoung sat on the couch, channel surfing on the tv while munching on toast she had prepared earlier that morning. Her father was at work and mother kneeling in the garden, head in a bush, cutting the dead branches and tending to her many plants and flowers.

Few kids from the neighbourhood kick a crushed soda can around, a makeshift football game. They scatter out the road when a motorbike approaches, gliding to the mailboxes with envelopes; bills and letters alike.

It’s only when he stops at Chaeyoung's mailbox - slightly skewed and bent from when she first began learning to drive, matching dent on the back bumper of her car - that her mother pulls her head out of the branches, leaves swaying.

The mailman gives her a kind smile and glides away on his bike.

Chaeyoung only pries her eyes away from the television when she hears a piercing shriek, jumping up and running to the open front door.

The daylight is brighter without the inside walls to shield from it and she squints, seeing a shadow come at her with ferocious speed.

She opens the front mesh door and her mother hands her an envelope, addressed directly to her. It’s from the academy.

_“And then next thing i knew i was packing my bags for the north of Paris.”_


End file.
